Alan Blackett says he was just seconds away from throwing himself off the top of Marsden Cliffs, in South Shields, after his dad died of a heart attack last August.

A police negotiator managed to talk the grieving 32-year-old out of jumping, and he was told he would receive the help he needs. Mr Blackett was taken to Bede Wing in South Shields, but claims doctors released him after an assessment a short time later.

He then walked straight back to the cliffs and threatened to jump once again, but police managed to talk him down a second time.

Mr Blackett, of Redwell Lane, South Shields, said: "After my dad died, I developed mental health problems and became depressed. I wanted to kill myself. I felt lonely and worthless. I needed help.

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"I was so close to jumping, but thought someone could help me. I was wrong.

"My cry for help was ignored. All I wanted was to be sectioned and cared for, but I was turned away. I was made to feel worthless.

"That's why I went out to the cliffs again. If it wasn't for the police negotiator, I wouldn't be alive today."

In another case, a 30-year-old woman, from South Shields, claims she telephoned the crisis team at the Bede Wing on a Saturday night, threatening to kill herself, but was told to "phone back on Monday morning".

The mum of three, who did not want to be named, has had to give up her job as an administrator because of her problems.

She said: "Most people have family to support them through troubled times. The crisis team are the only people I can go to, but I kept getting turned away by them.

"You just think to yourself 'if you don't care, then who does?'

"It's moments like that when you think that you're worthless and you might as well kill yourself because no one
cares.

"Rejection is the last straw.

"The only help I've received from the team at Bede Wing is medication, and I need more than that."